Ladybugs, crafties and cuteness

I made this crafty for my auntie for her kitchen table, so she can have snowman-happies!

 I made a crafty new pair of jammie pants (but apprently threw away the picture). This was on my new sewing machine. Now I have gone back to sitting on the couch and taking long-thinking-times in my bed. It has been an AWESOME week!
Ashley is going to continue to be a ladybug for Halloween and she got all dressed up this week:

On Friday we got dressed up and hunkered over to the church for the annual trunk-or-treat with Lisa and Ryder. It was only medium cold and the kiddso were super super cute!

Saturday, we went to see a pirate play/musical (only 50 minutes!) for kids in Orem with Jason and Heather.
Crafty Heather made a CUTE pirate-hunt for the girls beforehand, where they followed a map and got pirate hats, eye patches, arm hooks and tons of candy. Super cute seester!


Then we went to see the play and the girls wanted to see the girl-pirate and the head-pirate after the show for pictures (Ellie wore her pirate gear):

Tomorrow is the primary program, so the girls will continue to be cute. I LOVE laying around! Josh is AWESOME at helping me be calm and relaxed. It has been so fun, I think the laying-around will need to continue into next week also. Happy Sunday!

Pictures and news

Here are some the exciting things going at the end of last week:Ryder got transitioned to his new foster home. He is doing great! They came for dinner on Sunday:

Ashley got the rest of her lady bug birthday costume:

 

And she also had a sickie day (but no throwing up - even though we had a pot ready!) 

Proof Josh is the greatest hubby in the world - he totally scrubbed down my caked on pans!

 AND he bought me a new sewing machine!!














Figuring it out:














 Me in my new favorite spot:















Josh's side of the craft/man cave:

Happy birthday Ashley!

Yes, today was Ashley's FIFTH (5th) birthday! Thanks Gwynn for your 9+ months of work and effort in creating such a beautiful girl.
Ashley started out the day with her favorite breakfast: pancakes. Then school, where she got a birthday crown AND shared treats (cheesy crackers - her favorite) with her classmates. For lunch, she had mac and cheese, another favorite!
Ellie and I wrapped her presents. It was HARD to wait until after dinner!
I frosted her lady bug cake.

Lisa and Ryder came over for dinner (the official move is tomorrow morning). We had scrambled eggs and ham, another favorite. Then the singing of the song!

Finally it was time for presents!

Mom even got in a few pictures. (Note, all gifts were selected by dad and Ellie) - the ladybug outfit (tutu, wings, antenna headband, should arrive tomorrow. The boots were a big hit).

Everyone LOVED the toys (thanks for the ponies Lisa!)

And thanks to the "black" frosting, everyone who ate black frosting had gross teeth!

A good time was had by all. We love you Ashley Mashley!

Announcement

Ryder will be leaving for a new family tomorrow morning. We are sad to see him go. He is a great kiddo and has made a LOT of progress since coming to our home four months ago.
He is going to a WONDERFUL family with no kids and two cats. We have invited them over for Sunday dinners for rest of the year.
You are a great kiddo Ryder, and I love you.

Ellie lost her first tooth!

Yep, Ellie has had two wriggly bottom teeth for a few weeks, and both Josh and I have tried to pull the most wiggly one out. But Friday, right in reading group, Ellie announced to her teacher (Mrs. Dye - who we love) that her tooth had fallen out and she had it right there in her hand. No blood, no tears. Needless to say it was VERY exciting!!
Here is the toothless one:

 The tooth fairy came that very night (thanks to our new tooth box) and left FOUR DOLLARS! (in quarters - to be more exciting). Josh felt the first tooth is worth more.

We decorated for fall/Halloween on Friday after school.

Josh then came home (for the whole weekend!!!!) and fixed our spiders so they didn't fall down:

Ryder is visiting with his grandparents this weekend. After a whole day of tears, and a LOT of struggle, it has come to me that Ryder needs to go to another family. Josh and I agree that our girls come first. They had been having a harder time that maybe I realized.
 The thought came to me that maybe we were the 'first' parents who could help him get over most of his angry screaming. But now he needs to move on because it seems he can't get the adult attention he needs when there is so much same-age competition.

The wonderful foster people have found a potential awesome family for him, and we are starting a slow (hopeful) transition. Lisa will be a GREAT mom to Ryder:
Ashley took a bath and looked super cute:

On Tuesday is her birthday. She is EXCITED!!!

Have a nice week! No school on Thursday and Friday so Josh and I are thinking about having a family-escape to a cabin near Yellowstone. Hehehe - will keep you updated!

A day at 'home!'

My darling sweetie, who has worked the last 13 days in a row, had today off!  (well, and yesterday too, but he didn't even get home until after 4 - so does that really count?)
He magically turned this...

Into this.....

Yep, I had been dreading the applesauce for days and days now (even with my fancy new juicer thing)and my sweetie turned all those apples into yummy sauce (ok, I did can the stuff and help with the last four batches, I am not a COMPLETE slacker. The book said to make 14 quarts (probably 15 with some in the fridge) you needed 50 pounds of apples!
I did finish my latest puzzle last night, so here it is:

I think this was my fastest puzzle yet. You probably do get better if you keep working on them - seeing where the pieces go, etc. But I am still just loving the 1,000 piece ones - don't anyone get crazy and send me one of those 3D ones or ones that are all red or something.Today we got the good news that Ellie will be moving up to FIRST GRADE MATH! So Josh sat right down and started going over some of the stuff her new class will be covering (counting by 10s). It was way cute.

We continue on with our crazy schedule of three kids, three schools, volunteering, organ practicing play-date having (Ashley is having her first 'real' play date tomorrow with her friend Emily from preschool - to say that both girls are EXCITED is an understatement. Read the report tomorrow), and trying-to-take-naps lives. Have a nice Monday!

Two posts in one week!

Here are some more updates and pictures.
This is the lovely vase that Josh brought me back from the Czech Republic - it looks great with the gladiolas from our yard. (And those flowers last a long time):

Friday  (after school volunteering) - we started a Lazy Day weekend. A few weeks ago, at Ellie's suggestion, we even made a Lazy Day list! Here it is:

In case you can't see all the words, during a Lazy Day, you must:  wear your PJ's all day, watch lots of TV, drink from a sippy cup, play outside (if  you want), take a nap (if you want) and mainly for me = no lists! It was a very nice weekend and I worked lots on my fun puzzle. I do like a puzzle.
Josh (after work all week and then two whole weekends in a row) gets today and Monday off. We might work on these apples:

Also, anyone want a totally fine, working good, dishwasher? ( it is a bit noisy, really it works fine).